Yearning for a Change
by girlpandagreenlime
Summary: She knew what she was, but nobody else was willing to give her a chance. Why couldn't she have at least one friend, one other person to say, "You can do it."? This is Pre-Movie, a short one-shot about Vanellope, a little girl who strives to be brave and strong as she fights to prove what she believes to be true but nobody else will accept. I hope you like.


**I know that you guys are all waiting for me to put up the next chapter of "This Shouldn't Be Happening," but this little one shot was an idea that I got while listening to a couple of different songs and it just begged to be written. It seems a little short in my eyes, so if you guys have _ANY_ suggestions or feedback at all, _PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE_ leave me a review and let me know. This one shot is set before the movie Wreck It Ralph, and was inspired by the songs "Welcome to the Show" and "When She Cries" by Britt Nicole, the second one especially. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review even if you've never reviewed my stuff before!**

**I don't own Wreck It Ralph or the songs mentioned above. Now enjoy!**

Racing was in her code.

That was what she told herself the most. Whenever she was pushed around, teased, and mocked, that was what she whispered over and over to help her stop crying. It was the thought that ran in her head when she watched the others enviously from underneath the bleachers or behind jaw-breakers and bushes. It was her reasoning for breaking into the bakery every week, even though every time she did, she ended up in the fungeon before she could finish baking. It was her answer to every question, whether it was raised by the bullies or by the negative feelings that often arose inside of her. It was the only thing she knew to be true other than her own name, although she didn't actually get called by her true name very often. Sometimes even she would discover the term 'Glitch' escaping her lips instead of 'Vanellope.' It was embarrassing to admit that she sometimes forgot her own name, but it was understandable, as the other people in the game always identified her with insulting nicknames. She was the only person who actually bothered to at least try to remember her name; nobody cared enough to try. She was also the only one who saw that she could be a racer if they just gave her the chance to prove herself.

For the many years that her game had been plugged in, Vanellope could not remember ever being in a cart. But when she watched the races from a distance, she always felt the exhilaration that she was sure all the other avatars experienced. She could close her hazel eyes and feel the wind whipping her face and tossing her hair back, and that just further fuelled her beliefs that she was born to be on the track with the others. She was born to whip around in a cart that she built herself, one that if anybody ever took a good look at, could give them a perfect idea of what kind of a girl Vanellope was. It would be strong, powerful, one that could get itself out of the stickiest situations with ease. It wouldn't be perfect; the frosting might be lumpy or maybe the tires wouldn't all be the same size. But overall, it would be the best cart on the track, a winner.

Those were the thoughts that kept Vanellope fighting to prove herself. But every fighter has days where they find themselves knocked down and unable to get back up, and she was no exception. On those days she hid herself under her candy wrapper blankets in the home that only she knew existed and vowed that she would never leave. Those were the days where she allowed herself to sob and scream at the top of her lungs, knowing that the only other thing that could hear her were the Mentos. She set off explosions that had nothing to do with the candy that hung over the broiling hot spring and occasionally fell in. And most of all, those were the days when Vanellope found herself hating who and what she was.

Whose cruel idea of a joke was it to make _her_ the one that nobody liked? What could the programmers possibly have been thinking when they decided to make her body involuntarily explode in a flash of blue binary? Though the glitching itself wasn't painful, the social rejection that it provided always caused her heart to tear. Most of the time she was able to hide her agony behind crude comments and an 'I don't care what you think,' attitude. But the fact was that she did care, and that never changed. Why didn't anybody want to give her a chance? Why was it that the only joy other people got from her came when they were shoving her in the mud and causing her physical and emotional pain? What was so wrong about being a glitch? All of the other racers were different; they weren't clones of each other like in some of the other games Vanellope heard about. So why had fate decided to make _her_ the different one that nobody liked? Why couldn't she have been given one friend, a person to believe in her other than herself? It really wasn't that hard to believe that she could be a racer was it? She had the attitude to do it. The only things she truly lacked were a cart and knowledge of how to operate one.

The truth was a harsh one, but one that made sense given Vanellope's living circumstances. With King Candy actually making it illegal for her to answer what she believed to be her calling, there was no way for her to learn. She had tried learning by reading some manuals and books that somebody had tossed into the junkyard once, but she had known even before she'd opened the books that driving wasn't really something that one could learn by reading. It was something one had to experience. And from what Vanellope gathered simply from watching, she wanted to experience it more than anything. There was no fear that it wouldn't be as wonderful as what she expected it to be. Vanellope knew that when she finally found a way to get herself inside a racing kart, the experience would be _more_ than she hoped it to be.

Vanellope couldn't even explain why it was so important to her. There were more than likely more than a million reasons, but try as she might, she just couldn't voice them. All she knew was that if she could feel the burning thrill of racing without even being in a cart, the feelings would be even more intensified when she actually found a way to drive, and she wanted to feel the rush of those intense emotions. In fact, driving wasn't even the proper verb to use for what she planned on doing when she was inside a cart screaming and crowing with the most happiness she'd ever felt in her life. Vanellope von Schweetz wanted to _fly. _She knew her expectations were high, but there was no stopping her from dreaming. With her disability, there was no way for her to leave her game to try to pursue those dreams in another environment, a more friendly environment. That was why she fought, even though some days it didn't seem worth it. So that she could show everybody, the fans, the avatars, and King Candy himself that she was more than a glitch. The glitch couldn't define who or what she was.

She was a racer, and that was all Vanellope would ever see herself as.


End file.
